Hearts have still not received any offers or expressions of interest from Rangers for Lawrence Shankland during the transfer window, Andrew McKinlay has confirmed.
The Tynecastle chief executive told Hearts TV ahead of the two sides’ meeting to open the new season that the Scotland striker would remain a Jambos player “unless or until” a sufficient bid comes in.
Light Blues links have been present for the best part of a year and Philippe Clement has reportedly now overcome previous reservations to consider a move before the transfer deadline [Daily Record, 29 July], with funds having been made available.
McKinlay is reportedly under consideration himself for the vacant CEO position at Ibrox [Daily Record, 23 June] but laughed off the prospect of the goalscorer heading to Glasgow first.
He said, via Football Scotland (2 August): “Is that still being talked about, is it? Yeah, it’s amazing that as we come up to play Rangers in the first game of the season that Lawrence is linked with a move to Rangers… although I see this week he’s now been linked with a move to Celtic.
“Look, as we sit here now, it’s still the case that we’ve had no offers. We’ve not even had any notes of inquiry or anything to do with Lawrence.
“As we sit here, Lawrence is very much a Hearts player and as far as I’m concerned, will remain a Hearts player, unless or until an appropriate offer comes in. Lawrence is very much part of our plans for the coming season and I hope it remains that way.”
Philippe Clement and Nils Koppen yet to make Rangers move
If Clement is gearing up to make a move for Shankland then a significant hurdle will be out of the way once the final whistle blows at Tynecastle.
A strong performance and a goal from the 28-year-old has been tipped to make the switch to Glasgow close to a “foregone conclusion” in the eyes of former Jambos player Ryan Stevenson [Daily Record, 2 August] but not everyone is so convinced.
The forward has entered the final year of his contract after rejecting all offers of an extension last term but his value in the eyes of his club has barely been effected.
If his goals fire them to European qualification he is worth more to Steven Naismith than a cut-price fee now, making a free transfer to Ibrox next summer a possibility.
Shankland is believed to be ready to jump at the chance to join Rangers [Scottish Daily Mail, 1 July] but clearly isn’t minded to rock the boat if it doesn’t come up.
Cyriel Dessers is likely to lead the Light Blues line just as he did through the second half of last term after no bid went in at Hearts during the January window.
How the Nigerian international performs during the opening weeks of the season may have a bearing on the situation with Danilo tipped by Ibrox News pundit Derek Ferguson to be a few weeks off it and Hamza Igamane still in one-to-one training and not ready to feature [4 Lads Had A Dream, 30 July].
But if there is any fire to the Shankland transfer smoke Clement and Nils Koppen have certainly left it very late.
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